Jimmy Scott's High & Tight: The Steve Rogers Interview

Lots of guys end their baseball careers and fall into oblivion.  They find themselves scrounging for work or looking for that something that can give them the same feeling as the competition on the field.  Then there are guys like Steve Rogers, who was the ace of the 1980s Montreal Expos.  Rather than succomb to injury and fade away into local auto dealership commercials or Elks Club testimonials, Steve took to working with the MLB Players Association.  More than a decade into his tenure there, Steve took time to share his experiences both on the mound and behind the desk.  For details, look below and find yourself itching to click play and listen to this Southern Man talk about playing baseball in Canada and then watching his beloved Montreal franchise follow his own path in life and uproot itself, moving from Canada to our nation's capital, Washington DC.

Part I

How did Steve's career end?  We start there and work our way forward, but just a bit.  It's here we learn that even the most veteran players had problems saying goodbye.  Steve talks about his demotion to the bullpen, his behavior afterwards, and gets into the way he was released.  Could it have been done better?  And where did he go from there?  Listen and he'll tell you.

Part II 23:00

The career over, then what?  Steve talks about his efforts at starting an oil company and how the call to work with the MLB Players Association was stronger.  The '81 strike is detailed from his perspective as a former player representative. 

Part III  38:00

As part of baseball history not just on the mound, but in the Players Association, Steve talks about working with both Marvin Miller and Donald Fehr.  Then we talk about the contraction issue of 2002 and the Montreal Expos, how the franchise had been so strong and how its fall was so strong, the team was moved to Washington DC.  Why were they moved?  Was there more to it than we know?  Steve is pressed on this.  Listen to his interesting response.

Part IV  49:00

A little hard core baseball.  Steve reacts to a blog entry by former catcher Gary Carter in which Carter says Rogers never liked his sign calling.  From there we get into the relationship between pitchers and catchers and what's going on when a pitcher shakes off his batterymate.

If you're interested in how a baseball career ends and how the life of a franchise ends, then this is the conversation you are destined to hear.  Sit back, convert everything we say in French Canadian, and enjoy the Jimmy Scott's High & Tight Interview with Steve Rogers.

THE MUSIC

The vocal selections that accompany this interview are attributed to Neil Young's Harvest Moon album, originally released in 1992.  Why Neil Young?  Because he's Canadian and Steve Rogers played in Canada.  Why Harvest Moon?  Because I like it.

From Hank To Hendrix

War Of Man

Natural Beauty

Harvest Moon

Besides that, you'll hear selections from:

Boston Pops - The Green Album

Jerry Maguire Soundtrack

Field of Dreams Soundtrack